Jens Kriete is managing sustainability

The father of three young children studied environmental engineering and earned his master’s degree with a focus on organizational development and management. He has been active in the paper industry for 18 years – 14 years of which he spent as an environmental manager. At Koehler, his primary focus will be the ongoing development of the company’s sustainability strategy and consolidating all of the associated tasks.

Sustainability already a top priority for Koehler

Only a few weeks after joining the company, Kriete praised the fact that quite a lot of work has already been done around sustainability. “I am delighted by both Koehler’s commitment to this issue and the fact that measures are being pursued wholeheartedly. The company is already carrying out a wide range of activities on its own doorstep, such as sponsoring a nearby stream or looking after orchards – it’s quite impressive.”

As a result of what the company has accomplished so far, Kriete sees himself primarily in charge of fine-tuning the measures and therefore also communicating with numerous internal stakeholders and customers: “The stories we are going to be telling about our products will also be stories about the raw materials we use.” One area he particularly plans to focus on is the supply chain: “When it comes to our fiber-based raw materials, the supply chain is well managed thanks to chain-of-custody certifications. When it comes to bonding agents and coating materials, particularly in relation to barrier paper, there are still many questions that we need to answer.” He believes Koehler is already well posi tioned thanks to KRE: “Through our biomass expertise and our systems, we’re eliminating our dependence on oil, natural gas, and coal. This means renewable energy is part of the story of our products.”

The native of Paderborn believes the development of flexible packaging paper is a tremendous opportunity to help develop a “gigantic market”: “The new production line 8 in Kehl is certainly only the beginning in this respect. If we succeed in supplementing our technical expertise with easily understandable, fact-based data for our customers so that they can make a clear decision, nothing will stand in the way of the next Koehler success story.”